trustmeimanengineer wrote:
Thanks for the replies!
Another question. Has anyone gone and visited a large number of schools? I am from the Midwest and have only visited Chicago and NY.
My plans on visiting are as follows, 1 day per school:
NY & Hanover - CBS, Johnson, Yale SOM
Boston - Sloan, HBS
Chicago - Kellogg, Booth
California - Haas, Anderson (maybe)
Any advice? Or tips? As I said earlier, I want to go to a top 10/reputable school only. Thanks.
Big trip! I've been in the Northeast my entire life, so I can give you an idea around geography for a trip for those schools.
If you want to work from the South (Can also be done in the opposite direction):
- I'd start with Philadelphia and Wharton. It's only about 2 hours south of NYC and if you're targeting top 10, you're gonna want to check out Wharton
- In NYC you have CBS and Stern. I noticed Stern wasn't on your list, but if you're looking to work in finance post-MBA then Stern is still a great school. It occasionally finds itself in the top 10 in many rankings. Both CBS and Stern are easily accessible via NYC Subway and getting both visits in one day should be possible if you're not distracted by the million other things you can do in NYC
- From there you can work your way towards Boston via New Haven and visit Yale SOM. New Haven is only about an hour and a half outside of NYC (disclaimer: without traffic ).
- In Boston/Cambridge, you've got Sloan and HBS which are very close to each other. HBS is actually in Allston just across the Charles River but it's still very close and a nice walk if you have the time and the weather is nice. If not you can take the T (red line) from Kendall Square/MIT two stops to Harvard Square and walk across the river or vice versa.
- Going North from Boston will get you into NH and in 2 hours you can find yourself in Hanover to visit Tuck. There isn't much else out there except the outdoors and if you enjoy hiking or skiing, that'll be the place to be (depending on the season). Hanover is on the border between VT and NH and so if you want to explore VT you can. If you continue further North you can find your way to the White Mountains which has a lot of fun hikes and a few ski areas like Waterville Valley. If you have some time to venture off the beaten path, Mt. Monadnock is a very popular hike or Lake Winnepesake isn't too far out of the way (where the Romneys vacation).
With all that being said, Cornell Johnson was kinda left out because it is way out of the way from all of those other schools. It's 4 hours northeast from NYC and about 6 hours west of Boston. It's a great school and a great place, but just really out of the way if you want to tie in a bunch of schools in one visit. I'd suggest making Ithaca a separate trip if you really want to check it out. The finger lakes region is beautiful in the summer and they're actually quite well known for their wine (can do a wine tour
!). It's also only about 3 hours from Buffalo and so if you want to check out Niagara falls that's possible.
In general each city and school has its pro's and con's. I'd suggest that if you have some time to check out the area a bit as well. Center City is nice in Philadelphia, NYC has a million things that you can do and see, Boston's a great town with a lot of history, and Hanover/Ithaca have a lot of great outdoor activities available. If you want any ideas or have any questions about these areas let me know (PM me)! I've pretty much lived in all of the aforementioned cities at some point in my life with the exception of Philadelphia and New Haven (although I've done many of trips there).
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